Kennedy Supports Marriage Equality, Ignores Warren Issue

Luke & Noah will be on As the World Turns today, but with my work schedule for the day and my holiday plans, I won't actually be writing about the episode until the day after Christmas.

I just wanted to note a few things today. First, Caroline Kennedy gave (very brief) answers to some questions about her political positions that were submitted by Politico. This one, in particular, caught my attention:

QUESTION 2: Same-sex marriage. Do you support the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry? Do you think it's appropriate that Rick Warren, who campaigned to ban gay marriage, is delivering the invocation at Obama's inauguration? If not, have you expressed that to the president-elect?

ANSWER: "Caroline supports full equality and marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples."

I'm thrilled that Carline supports full marriage rights, not just the half-measure of civil unions that so many Democrats (including the next President) are in support of. I'm not surprised that she failed to address the Rick Warren question, but I am pretty disappointed.

Speaking of Rick Warren, AfterElton has a post on Rachel Maddow's skewering of Warren and his role in the Inauguration that is worth reading. They also include the actual video which is really a must see.

Well, I won't be writing for the next few days because of my holiday plans, but I'll be back on the 26th. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Kennedy Pro/Con; Brown v. The Forces of Darkness

Ellen Goodman has written an essay at Truthdig that is pro-Caroline Kennedy for appointment to the U.S. Senate seat that will soon be vacant in New York. I've already voiced my opinion on the matter a few times, but Goodman does so much more eloquently than I could:

'But I find myself unable to dredge up even a modicum of outrage at the idea of this Kennedy bumping to the top of the list of Senate candidates. Her résumé shows no more chutzpah than Al Franken’s. Her celebrity is no greater than that of her cousin-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Kindergarten Cop” and governor. Is she any less entitled to this post than the business leader who decides that his acumen at widgets qualifies him to lead a country?

There is something refreshing in seeing a mother and public citizen auditioning for a second act. Beyond that, there is something tender and timely in seeing this particular woman coming home to the family business.'

...............

'I don’t know if Kennedy is tough or politically talented enough for the back-to-back races she would face to win a full term. Appointed candidates do not have a high rate of success in elections. But I do have a sense that this woman is less focused on the Kennedy legacy—perhaps even less than the rest of us—than the Obama beginning.

She described her reasons for supporting Obama, saying: “My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined.”

So are the reasons for seeing her as a Sen. Caroline Kennedy. Pick Caroline and you are not choosing the latest scion of a dynasty. You are choosing the emblem of a generation—and maybe a country—coming back to life. Public life.'

Truthdig also has an essay up by Joe Conason on the same topic that isn't entirely anti-Caroline Kennedy, but does raise some key questions about such an appointment:

'Aside from money, celebrity and tradition, what else does Kennedy need to propel her candidacy? New York Gov. David Paterson, who will actually make the interim appointment, may have asked himself that question when she called to inform him of her interest. As he told reporters, “She’d like at some point to sit down and tell me what she thinks her qualifications are.”

In the governor’s remark, there is an edge that expresses what many politicians may be thinking. Unlike members of Congress who want the promotion, Kennedy, a nonpracticing attorney, has little familiarity with the legislative process. Unlike them, she has never tested herself in the brutal arena of electoral politics. And unlike many of them, she has lived in a world of privilege quite remote from the concerns of most voters.

It is not hard to imagine the difficulties Kennedy might confront in a race against someone like Rep. Peter King, the first Republican to declare his intention to run for the Senate seat no matter whom the governor appoints. How would the soft-spoken lady from the Upper East Side hold up in a debate against a self-styled populist from Long Island?

Nobody who knows Kennedy doubts her intellect or her commitment. But beyond her endorsement of Barack Obama at a crucial moment in the Democratic primaries, nobody knows much about her positions on public policy. Presumably, the governor will explore that question when they meet.

The same criticism—that she’s only where she is because of her name—was leveled at her Uncle Ted when he first ran for the Senate. Then again, we know how he turned out. If that is what she means to become, New York could do much worse.'

On another subject, California's Attorney General Jerry Brown surprised everyone today by submitting a brief to the state Supreme Court arguing that Prop 8 should be overturned.

'In a brief submitted to the court Friday, Brown’s office said the measure should be invalidated because it deprives people of the right to marry—an aspect of liberty that the Supreme Court has concluded is guaranteed by the California Constitution.

“Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification,” Brown’s brief said.

Brown argued that in order to invalidate such a fundamental right, the court “must determine that there is a compelling justification to do so.”

But in the marriage cases that the court ruled on earlier this year, striking down the ban on gay marriage “the court found that no such compelling justification exists. Accordingly, Proposition 8 must be stricken,” the brief said.'

Brown personally opposed Prop 8 last month but was still largely expected to argue in favor of upholding it in his position as Attorney General.

I applaud Jerry Brown for doing the right thing. No Majority should ever get to decide a basic rights issue for any minority. That's not equality and it's not democracy.

Those defending Prop 8 have recruited the odious Ken Starr to present their case before the court. You know, if I was a prop 8 supporter, just having Ken Starr on the same side as me would be enough to make me change my mind!

The case isn't going to be heard until March at the earliest, but all eyes are on California.

Obama's Fist LGBT Appointment; My Double Standard on Kennedy

Sources are saying that President-elect Obama will name his administration's first LGBT official with the selection of Nancy Sutley, the openly gay Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles for Energy & the Environment, to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

While this is not as huge as naming an openly gay Cabinet member (though there are still a few of those positions open which could go to LGBT individuals) it is still a pretty big step. It's also pretty amazing that we're going to have a President who actually cares about the Environment. The news of her new position pleases California's League of Conservation Voters and gives hope that, with the environmental team Obama has assembled, we'll actually make progress towards cleaning up the planet. What a nice change from the continual downward spiral on environmental issues we've been in for the last several years!

Meanwhile, Marie Cocco makes some really good points in a piece on the excitement over Caroline Kennedy potentially filling Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. As I've noted before, I actually really like the idea of Caroline becoming New York's new Senator, largely because of my admiration for her. But Cocco rightly points out that Kennedy's family connections and good works alone shouldn't qualify her for a seat in the Senate.

The fact remains, though, that Senate appointments often go to people who've never held elected office before- Ted Kafuman, the new Senator from Delaware, for instance, or Jean Carnahan of Missouri who was appointed in her husband's place when he died just before winning the election. If we want to change this, we'd have to end the appointments of Senators to vacant seats and just hold immediate special elections instead, like they do in the House.

No matter who Governor Patterson appoints, they won't have to be elected by the people of New York until 2010, and possibly not even then if they decided not to run. I honestly think Caroline Kennedy would make a hell of a Senator. And if if turned out that she didn't, the people would have their say in two years, like they will on whomever the Governor chooses.

I'm completely biased, though, and freely admit that I was disgusted by Ted Kafuman's appointment. I felt it should have gone to someone who'd held elective office and wasn't just a friend of Joe Biden. This situation is a bit different, given all the good works that Caroline has done, but I can still see that I'm totally embracing a double standard on this.

But, what can I say? Nothing is ever black and white in life. While Kaufman's appointment is blatantly that of a seat warmer for Beau Biden's run in 2010, Kennedy's would be that of a woman who could become a true liberal leader in the Senate for decades to come.

Project Holiday Spirit; Another Senator Kennedy?

Just a few quick things tonight.

First, Project Holiday Spirit has already raised over $2,300 since Monday for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This is the campaign by fans of Van Hansis & Jake Silbermann (a.k.a Luke & Noah on As the World Turns) to donate in honor of them during the Holiday season. Click the link if you'd like to donate as well.

Also, I wrote the other day that Caroline Kennedy's name was being mentioned for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat in New York. Just because she was being spoken of for the position didn't mean that she'd actually want it, of course. Today I read that Caroline is indeed interested in taking over Senator Clinton's seat and I have to admit that I really like the idea, if for no other reason than that I've always really admired Caroline Kennedy.

I should also note that the National Organization for Women has endorsed Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney for the seat and that there are several other women in the Congressional delegation who would be strong choices as well. As I've said, I really hope that the Governor of New York ends up choosing a woman to replace Clinton.